[mythtv-users] I could use some help with Schedules Direct and/or XMLTV

E James e_james at dsl.pipex.com
Mon Jun 27 02:23:01 UTC 2016


On 25/06/16 08:11, John Veness wrote:
> 
> The file format that radiotimes.com provided (the raw 2047.dat files) was something particular to that site, so you won't be able to get the exact same format from Schedules Direct.
> 
> As I understand it, the "rawest" data you can get out of Schedules Direct is in JSON format, but it will take a lot of interpretation and programming.
> 
> For you, I think your best bet is to use xmltv tv_grab_sd_json to get the data you want, and work with that. I suggest asking on the xmltv-users mailing list.
> 
> John
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There are many large holes in my knowledge and understanding of Linux, MythTV, MYSQL, XML, XMLTV and Schedules Direct. 

I stumbled on an actual JSON file on an unrelated web site and started some experimental coding. The radiotimes data is essentially just a variation of CSV and the JSON format is significantly more complex, but I estimate between 4 and 10 hours work would be sufficient to write the necessary ObjectPal code. That part is easy in comparison to the problem of obtaining the JSON format schedule data to process. So far the story goes like this --

tv_grab_sd_json is part of XMLTV and XMLTV uses data from Schedules Direct. XMLTV is a Schedules Direct approved application. The terms and conditions of Schedules Direct expressly forbid the use of unapproved applications and the extraction of schedule data from approved applications and the archiving of data from Schedules Direct which are all things I might want to do. So it looks as if tv_grab_sd_json is a non-starter. Reading between the lines, I do get the impression that there are discrepancies between the usage of schedule data and the Schedules Direct terms and conditions. For the moment I'm looking at either -

extracting EIT data from applications that use it 

or 

obtaining EIT data directly from the digital tuner mpeg stream.

This option still presents many challenges.

I have posted enquiries on the Schedules Direct forum and the xmltv-users mailing list but I'm not expecting any useful results.


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